The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) of 2011 aims to ensure that the United States food supply is safe by shifting the focus from simply responding to food contamination to proactively preventing the contamination of food. As such, there is a need in the art for hygienically designed food processing equipment that produces microbiologically safe food by minimizing the risk of contamination. It is also desirable that the hygienically designed food processing equipment be easily cleaned and sanitized to further reduce the risk of contamination.
Vacuum dewatering systems are known in the art for removing water or other effluents from a product following a washing process. For example, ready-to-eat (RTE) products, which are common in the produce industry, require gross dewatering after washing and prior to packaging to limit degradation of the product and to deter the development of undesirable pathogens. Dewatering of fresh produce is typically handled through mechanical means, such as centrifuge, vibration, vacuum, etc., as opposed to heating means to preserve the freshness of the product. Processes for removing the water commonly involve vacuum dewatering, which typically involves a perforated conveyance, such as a belt or vibratory shaker mechanism and a vacuum assembly to eliminate the undesirable liquid effluent from the product.
During the washing process, produce placed on a conveyor belt is typically subjected to a liquid effluent and pressurized air. The excess liquid effluent from the washing process then passes through perforations formed in the conveyance and enters a vacuum dewatering system that utilizes a fan or blower to aspirate the effluent into the process room directly as an aerosol. Prior art attempts have been made to separate the effluent from the air after the air has exited from the fan and prior to the aspiration of the air into the process room. One prior art technique includes the dissipation of the air into a large volume chamber to slow the airflow and allow the effluent to fall out of suspension and to be collected at the bottom of the chamber. In an additional prior art technique fiber or baffle-type droplet separators are added to the vacuum dewatering system at the outlet of the fan to separate the effluent from the airstream after the airstream has passed through the fan. However, there are problems associated with the prior art techniques regarding contamination and sanitation.
RTE requires that a sterile environment be maintained during the food processing and that the processing equipment be accessible for sanitation procedures to be performed on a daily, or an even more frequent, basis. To aid in sanitation of the processing equipment, surfaces need to be accessible for regular sanitation and testing. However, the fibers used in droplet separators cannot be sanitized and the closed plenums used in the vacuum dewatering system cannot be accessed and do not provide line of sight confirmation.
The aspired effluent from the dewatering process, when not controlled, raises the humidity level in the process room, which makes dewatering more difficult. In addition, dispersing the effluent throughout the process room may also result in undesirable cross contamination of other RTE products, equipment, personnel and the process facility itself. Undesirable, unsanitary solid buildups which collect inside the dewatering equipment, plenums, ducts, fan housing and impeller when the effluent passes through the fan are not easily removed and can result in contamination of the RTE product. Additionally, an uncontrolled high pressure discharge airflow from the dewatering system can re-entrain standing liquids from surfaces such as nearby equipment, floors and personnel which may result in an undesirable aspiration of these standing liquids into the process room.
According, what is needed in the art is an improved effluent removal system and method that eliminates the undesirable aspiration of effluent into the process room and that is easy to sanitize.